COCHS Connections

Topic
The first issue of COCHS' Connection, contains two interviews, one with Sheriff Ed Dean of Marion County,Florida and the launching of Ocala Community Care, a non-profit to provide health care to the inmates in the Ocala jail; the other with John Miles who developed the Corrections and Substance Abuse Unit at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Articles include a description of the innovative jail management and electronic medical record system in Orange County, Florida; the implementation of the COCHSs approach to health care connectivity in the Washington DC jail; and the survey that COCHS and the National Association of Counties conducted to identify health care service delivery methods, expenditures and outcomes in local jurisdictions.

Topic
The second issue of COCHS' Connection contains an interview with Indianapolis Mayor Gregory Ballard on Inmate Re-entry.

Articles include a description of establishing best practices in jail-based health care via electronic medical records (EMRs); the impact of high incarceration rates on jails and the challenges that corrections faces when detaining the mentally ill; a recap of a COCHS' meeting held in Washington DC, in the winter of 2008, that highlighted the consequences of federal policy in regards to community based health care in jails.

Topic
The third issue of COCHS' Connection contains an interview with Jeff Mellow, an associate professor in the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration, at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice on Inmate Re-entry. He discusses with COCHS Connections issues surrounding inmate re-entry.

Articles in this issue include a discussion of how Medical Homes can create a natural partnerships between local jails and community health centers; a description of community health centers: their structure, populations served, and services provided; and a letter published in the New York Times, from COCHS Medical Director, Dr. Keith Barton concerning the Second Chance Act.

Topic
The fourth issue of COCHS' Connection contains an interview with Alex Briscoe, the project director of Juvenile Offenders Community Health Services (JOCHS). He discusses connecting juvenile justice to public health.

Articles in this issue include a description of how Bernalillo County, New Mexico, links jail and community to treat addicted inmates; COCHS work with Project ECHO to enhance care for opiate addiction for jail inmates; and information about technology opportunities in President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package is the Health Information Technology and Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.